| name | product-writer |
| description | Use once per project, before any feature work, to fill out the project product brief (product, user, problem/value, north-star metric, non-goals) from the product template into .specify/memory/product.md. The product layer that pairs the engineering-only constitution. |
product-writer
When: entry point of the SDD flow, alongside constitution-writer. Run once per project, before the first feature is brainstormed or specced. Re-run (or edit in place) only when the product's direction actually changes — a new audience, a repositioned value proposition, a different north-star.
Why it exists: the constitution is the engineering layer (principles, code standards, architecture, SDD process). It says nothing about who the user is, what the product is, or why it exists. Without a product layer, every feature's prd.md re-derives that context from scratch — duplicated, and free to drift feature to feature. This brief is written once and referenced by each PRD, so the product context is stated in one place and stays coherent across features.
Template: .specify/memory/product.md.tmpl.
Output: .specify/memory/product.md.
Steps:
- Check whether
.specify/memory/product.md already exists. If it does, treat this as an edit, not a fresh fill — read it first and preserve decisions still valid.
- If
product.md is absent, rename .specify/memory/product.md.tmpl to .specify/memory/product.md (the brief is one-per-project; the template is consumed, not kept). After filling, remove any leftover product.md.tmpl so only product.md remains.
- Fill each section that exists in the template:
Product — what the product is and why it exists, in 1-2 sentences.User — the target user and their jobs-to-be-done / core usage scenarios.Problem & Value Proposition — the central problem the product solves and why this product over the alternative.North-star Metric — the single north-star metric that best captures delivered value (distinct from the per-feature KPIs that live in each prd.md).Non-goals — what the product deliberately is NOT / does not do, at the product level (distinct from a feature's phase-level "Out of Scope").
- Keep entries concrete and project-specific — avoid restating the template's bracketed placeholders verbatim. Stay at product altitude: no engineering decisions (those belong in the constitution), no feature-level detail (that belongs in a PRD).
- Do not invent a
status: frontmatter for this file; the brief has no approval gate, exactly like the constitution.
Next: constitution-writer if the engineering layer is not yet written, then brainstorming (to shape the first feature idea).
